PAULA LIVERPOOL worked as a bartender at a notoriously dangerous Miami strip club – fully clothed – in order to fund daughter Sachia’s tennis education.

And this week she will be rewarded when her 17-year-old steps out at an International tennis tournament in a city bearing her name!

It’s a long way, physically and metaphorically, from where both Paula and Sachia have come from.

Despite boasting basketball star LeBron James as a family friend, young Sachia only ever had eyes for a tennis racket.

She relentlessly hit a rubber ball against the side of the house, declaring she would become the next Serena Williams.

Eventually her mother realised she would either have to get her on real tennis courts or watch her destroy the house.

By the time Vickery was eight, she showed promise, and was put in touch with Otis Johnson, a former Jamaican professional who moved into the family home and remains with her to this day.

“I was supposed to stay for a week,” said Johnson in an interview with the New York Times, “and it’s been eight years now.”

Johnson worked mostly free, but as Vickery progressed, her tennis expenses outpaced Liverpool’s earning power as an administrator for Kaplan online university.

Liverpool, who immigrated from Guyana after earning a degree in education, knew she needed another job.

“Sometimes, for the love of your child, you do things you never, ever thought you would do,” Liverpool said.

She was offered a job bar tending at Club Rolexx, a so-called gentleman’s club, from the part owner Carl Cruise. Fully clothed, she still had to endure leering men, loud music and occasional gunplay.

“The first time I walked in there, I walked right out,” Liverpool recalled. “I said: ‘Carl, are you crazy? I have two degrees. I’m not going to work in there.’ It was something I was totally opposed to.

“But I needed the money so I just kept my eyes closed and did my job. Sometimes, things that are the opposite of what you believe in morally, you have to do for your children.”

One night in 2008, a patron standing no more than 10 feet from Liverpool was shot in the leg. Another time a manager of the club and her friend were shot in his car as he left. But each time, Liverpool went back to work the next day.

At first, Vickery did not know what her mother’s job entailed. When she found out, she pleaded with her to stop, concerned about the crude atmosphere and potential for violence.

“I was really scared because it’s in a really bad area in downtown Miami, and she said a few times they had shoot-outs there,” Vickery said.

“So, every time she left I was so scared, at night. I was just praying. I told her to stop, but she said: ‘I have no choice. Right now, that’s what I have to do until otherwise.’”

Vickery is currently ranked 385 in the world, and rising fast.

And she gives much of the credit to mum Paula.

“What she has done for me is inspiring,” Vickery said. “It’s helped me to grow stronger as a person. When you’re not used to getting everything easily, you fight harder for it. Every time I go on the court, my mentality is, fight, fight, fight. It’s helped me, so I’ll never complain.”

Whatever the typical path is of the typical American tennis phenomenon, Vickery has not followed it.

She rode buses to tournaments with her grandmother, left the United States to play in France, and spent recent Christmases with LeBron James, whose mother, Gloria, is like an aunt to her. (Vickery’s former stepfather, Derrick Mitchell, lived with Gloria in Akron, Ohio, and a young Sachia would visit. They remain close.)

But Vickery was always more impressed with her idols, Serena and Venus Williams, than she was with LeBron.

She has had tennis on her mind ever since her grandmother bought her a paddle and ball at a dollar store.

Now she wields a racket with power and authority – and is ready to show off her prowess at Calderstones Park this week.

“I have always believed in Sachia,” said Kathy Rinaldi, the U.S.T.A. national coach. “She has incredible foot speed and balance. Has improved her forehand and serve. I think she can go far if she puts the work in.”